No training, lots of airplanes
I spent the week in Ft. Lauderdale, doing some fundraising for redtail.org, a volunteer organization I'm involved with.
The McDonald's Air & Sea Show was in town and the Tuskegee Airmen were guests of honor. The Red Tail Project mission is to continue telling the story of the Tuskegee Airmen so that's how I wound up in Florida in May.
We took them to a wonderful event on Wednesday where they were presented with a key to the city and honored with a lovely sculpture.
On Thursday we took a tour of the U.S.S. San Antonio, which is the newest ship in the Navy. It can carry up to 800 Marines and a bunch of helicopters. Then it was off to a press conference for the air show and finally that evening we hit a party for the air show performers and other assorted bigwigs.
Friday was pretty laid back, but we did go to an outstanding party back on the San Antonio. It was a VIP affair, with a bunch of admirals, a four-star general and a bunch of corporate sponsors.
We were guests in a VIP sponsor tent for the air show itself, which was the way to go. The show runs along 4-miles of beach in Ft. Lauderdale, it's hot, crowded and noisy. We had an open bar, a bunch of food, shade and fans to keep things cool under the tent. Not too shabby.
I didn't get to see much of the show itself on Saturday. I was too busy getting a group of Airmen back to their hotel, which wound up taking several hours. They're all in their 80s, so long-days in the heat aren't really a good idea.
I did manage to catch the Blue Angels, which is a pretty impressive show.
I'd flown down in a Cirrus SR-22 with an airline pilot friend and another volunteer.
It was an interesting experience and I wound up being pretty busy working the radios, setting up the GPS and reminding the DC-10 captain in the left seat to turn on the boost pump, switch tanks, start descending to the airport, where to taxi... that sort of stuff.
I was happy to fly back commercial on Sunday. I'd had enough baby sitting for one week.
The McDonald's Air & Sea Show was in town and the Tuskegee Airmen were guests of honor. The Red Tail Project mission is to continue telling the story of the Tuskegee Airmen so that's how I wound up in Florida in May.
We took them to a wonderful event on Wednesday where they were presented with a key to the city and honored with a lovely sculpture.
On Thursday we took a tour of the U.S.S. San Antonio, which is the newest ship in the Navy. It can carry up to 800 Marines and a bunch of helicopters. Then it was off to a press conference for the air show and finally that evening we hit a party for the air show performers and other assorted bigwigs.
Friday was pretty laid back, but we did go to an outstanding party back on the San Antonio. It was a VIP affair, with a bunch of admirals, a four-star general and a bunch of corporate sponsors.
We were guests in a VIP sponsor tent for the air show itself, which was the way to go. The show runs along 4-miles of beach in Ft. Lauderdale, it's hot, crowded and noisy. We had an open bar, a bunch of food, shade and fans to keep things cool under the tent. Not too shabby.
I didn't get to see much of the show itself on Saturday. I was too busy getting a group of Airmen back to their hotel, which wound up taking several hours. They're all in their 80s, so long-days in the heat aren't really a good idea.
I did manage to catch the Blue Angels, which is a pretty impressive show.
I'd flown down in a Cirrus SR-22 with an airline pilot friend and another volunteer.
It was an interesting experience and I wound up being pretty busy working the radios, setting up the GPS and reminding the DC-10 captain in the left seat to turn on the boost pump, switch tanks, start descending to the airport, where to taxi... that sort of stuff.
I was happy to fly back commercial on Sunday. I'd had enough baby sitting for one week.
posted by Will at 3:01 PM
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